"Mama, You Been on My Mind" is a song by American singer-songwriterBob Dylan. Written in 1964 during a trip to Europe, the song dealt with his recent breakup with his girlfriend, Suze Rotolo. Dylan first recorded the song in June of that year during a session for his album Another Side of Bob Dylan. However, the song was not included on the album, and Dylan's version remained unreleased until 1991. In total, in the 1990s and 2000s four versions were put out on Dylan's Bootleg Series of releases, including two live performances with Joan Baez from 1964 and 1975.

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Dylan completed a concert tour of England in mid-May and afterwards vacationed in France, Germany and Greece. During his visit to Greece he wrote several songs for his upcoming album, Another Side of Bob Dylan, including "Mama, You Been on My Mind".[1]

After returning to the USA, Dylan went into Columbia's Studio A on June 9, 1964 and in a single night recorded 14 new songs, including one take of "Mama, You Been on My Mind".[2] However, when the album was released two months later, the song was not included.[3] Circulated as a bootleg for many years, the outtake of "Mama, You Been on My Mind" was officially released in 1991 on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991.[4]

Two drafts of "Mama, You Been on My Mind" were written by Dylan on notepaper from the May Fair Hotel where he had stayed in London during his concert tour. According to biographer Clinton Heylin, the song was one of three he wrote while visiting Europe that addressed the breakup with his girlfriend Suze Rotolo in mid-March 1964.[4][5]

As critic Oliver Trager describes it, the song is a "straightforward love song of separation and yearning" with a "gorgeous melody and cascading, almost incantatory lyrics".[6] Each of the song's stanzas, except the last, ends with the title refrain, or variations of it. For example:

I don’t mean trouble, please don't put me down or get upset
I am not pleadin’ or sayin’, "I can’t forget"
I do not walk the floor bowed down an' bent, but yet
Mama, you been on my mind

Howard Sounes, another Dylan biographer, considers the song "one of the finest love songs he ever wrote". Sounes says that while Dylan held responsibility for making a "mess" of his relationship with Rotolo, in the song "he could express himself with delicacy and maturity".[7]

An alternate title, "Mama, You've Been on My Mind", has been used almost as often as the original. In addition, some female vocalists have used "Daddy" in place of "Mama", including Joan Baez, who introduced the substitution jokingly in her guest appearance at Dylan's 1964 Philharmonic Hall concert.[11] In 1965, Baez recorded "Daddy, You Been on My Mind" for the album Farewell, Angelina, the song's first commercial release, while that same year Judy Collins recorded "Daddy, You've Been on My Mind" for her Fifth Album. Adding yet another twist, Linda Ronstadt covered the song for her solo debut Hand Sown...Home Grown in 1969 under the title "Baby, You've Been on My Mind".[6]